WHO I AM

In Short: Raised by frogs in New Jersey, I started catching creepy crawlies at a young age.

Extended version: My parents aren’t really frogs, but they always encouraged my searches for frogs, snakes, and bugs. When I wasn't catching animals, my family was taking me to the American Museum of Natural History, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, or Longwood Gardens to explore organisms from further afield. Unfortunately, when I started going to school, there was nothing academic that encouraged this passion. Luckily, I went to Sterling College where my advisor revitalized my love of nature. This love was kept alive in graduate school, first working on moss ecology at Fordham and then working on leech evolution at the American Museum of Natural History's Richard Gilder Graduate School. I then completed my postdoc with Rob DeSalle by continuing to advance my studies in natural history using advanced methods. Following my postdoc I was an assistant professor of biology at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. Now I am an assistant professor at Medgar Evers College, part of the City University of New York. In addition to my love of organisms, I simply enjoy being outside, whether rock climbing, hiking, or just relaxing. I also spend my time searching out the next best meal, or an unfamiliar dish.